Show & Tell Friday for April 17

Here are just a very few signs of spring here in northern New England.

A hopeful message on the slate at the front door

Laundry waving in the warm springlike breeze -- but notice there is still some snow on the ground. Still woodsmoke coming out of the chimney too. One reason I don't like to hang out laundry this early. But I couldn't resist.

Best of all, these pretty daffodils blooming in a sheltered spot at my parents' home

And a few more. My hubby took these daffodil photos. They came out so nice!


That is my simple Show & Tell for today. To see what others have shared for Show & Tell Friday, head on over to There is No Place Like Home. Happy Show & Tell Friday!

A Homemade Life, April 11

Here are just a very few things for A Homemade Life. I have been spending most of my spare time (what time would that be, I wonder?) working on the kids' summer devotional book that I write every year. I accomplished just a few simple crafts in the past week, to use as gifts.

I had had this pretty fabric on hand for years. When I originally bought it, I thought I would like to make it into pillows. But as I looked at it again, I thought that I wanted to leave all of the design elements intact and not cut it up. So I made it into a very simple spring/summer tablecloth.

Here are the different panels closer up. Here's one:

And a second:

The saying on this one is a bit hard to read -- it says, "June brings tulips, lilies, roses... fills the children's hands with posies."

And here's the fourth panel:

Another thing I did was to make some spring hot pads. These blue sunflower ones sort of coordinate with the tablecloth.

I made 2 other hot pads, too, but the photos came out too dark. One is a "Chinese take-out" type print, really cute and unusual, and the other a Mary Engelbreit print.

I also crocheted a cupcake pincushion. I neglected to get a picture of it, but if you want to check out the project, here's the link: crocheted cupcake pincushion

I've been thinking, too, that I should post my easy, easy coleslaw recipe which I make almost every week to go with our beans and hot dogs on Saturday night. It makes a good easy salad to take to a potluck, too. I was sure I had posted that in the past, and sure enough, here it is: Easy Homemade Coleslaw. You will have to scroll down to near the end of the post to find this recipe.

I'm sure I've probably done more homemade stuff that I've forgotten all about. If you would like to see other homemade ideas, be sure and check out Life on a Back Road. You will find lots of inspiration there!

Favorite Ingredients Friday for April 10

This is the Easter edition of Favorite Ingredients Friday, and I am late getting this posted, so thought I would share an easy yet festive coffeecake which uses ingredients you probably have on hand. Wonderful for Easter breakfast. I just put one of these in the oven to take to the breakfast at church tomorrow.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COFFEECAKE

Topping:
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. softened margarine
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Cocoa Layer:
3 T. cocoa
1/2 c. sugar

Batter:
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. softened margarine
2 c. flour
1 c. sour cream
2 large eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

For topping, combine flour, sugar and margarine in small bowl until crumbly. Add chocolate chips and set aside.

For cocoa layer, combine ingredients in small bowl; set aside.

For batter, combine sugar and margarine in large bowl; beat until blended. Increase to high; beat until light and fluffy. Reduce heat to low, add remaining ingredients, and beat 3 minutes.

Heat oven to 350º. Grease a 13x9” pan or a 9” tube pan.

Spread half of batter in pan; sprinkle with half the cocoa layer. Repeat layers. Sprinkle topping layer over all.

Bake 50-55 minutes. For tube cake, cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to rack. 13x9” cake will be cut in squares and served from the pan.

Some Easter decorating...

Kelli is not hosting a Show & Tell today, but I would like to show my few Easter decorations.

First up, here is the ribbon board in the front hallway. Some of these are vintage cards which I showed you last year.

Also in the front hallway, I have a frame where I display Tasha Tudor illustrations (from an old calendar) by seasons. This one says "April showers bring May flowers "and has wonderful illustrations of children decorating Easter eggs.

On the dining room table, these pretty bunnies. They are supposed to be tea light holders, but I set a foam egg in each one.

On the kitchen island, this cute bunny gardener. He is standing on a pretty tea towel I bought at a wonderful shop in Lamoille, NV.

Here is the lower shelf of my hutch, decorated for Easter. The cute little message in front of the ironstone tureen was stamped by a dear friend.

A closer look at these two antique papier-mache eggs.

This is an egg-shaped soap with a lily of the valley design which I've kept for years. For an "egg cup" I used a lovely candle holder a friend had given me some time ago. So the "egg" didn't sink out of sight in the "cup", I have it propped up on a wooden spool hidden inside the cup.

Those are my simple Easter decorations. Hope you have enjoyed seeing them and that you will all have a blessed Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

Show & Tell Friday for April 3

For Show & Tell today, I thought I would share a few of my aprons. This first one was given to me by my friend Lynne. I believe she found it at a thrift shop. Isn't it pretty? Lots of work in this!

Here is a close-up of the apron bib with its cross-stitched bird. Amazing! This is stitched on 22-count (or something even finer) material. I can't even imagine doing this stitchery.

This red-checked apron was made for my son by his grandma when he was about 5. Now his daughters love to wear it when they help me in the kitchen!

This child's apron was made by my grandmother. I think she devised this pattern herself. As you see, it goes over the head and ties on the sides. This would fit a 2-year old or possibly a petite 3-year old.

And this child's apron (also made by my grandmother) is my favorite, because I remember that she had an apron made from this exact same material. The side ties for this are simply twill tape.
Oh, and I just remembered this would be my grandmother's birthday. She was born in 1901!

To see what others have shared for Show & Tell this week, go visit visit There is No Place Like Home
and check out the links. It’s so much fun to see what others have to share!